I have a 91 f150 w/ 4.9l inline 6. I've always had a little problem with losing fluid from the master cylinder, but tonight it finally gave out. I can't change gears at all and there is no pressure on the pedal. After it cooled of a bit i got the wife to dump fluid in the cylinder and pump the pedal. Once it got a little pressure on it it all came out the bottom of the bell housing. Does this mean the salve cylinder is bad or is there a seal around the clutch I need to replace?

 

I've got the same rig in a 93, she leaks only during the winter. I pulled the rubber cover off trans and looked right at the slave cyl.Tranny shop guy say he replaces that cyll ,all rubber tranny covers w/metal, etc when he replaces clutchs. I never priced the slave cyl or if you could replace w/o removing tranny. the line seems one piece from cyl to sump. I'll be diggin in there this weekend (on another leak prob) and recheck whats there.....

 

Gregstopspeed, you have a bad clutch slave cylinder. Needs to be replaced, can be purchased at almost any auto parts store.

 

Thanks for the replies...

 

If the clutch hasn't been done recently, you'll want to do that while you're in there as well.

 

I don't really understand what this means. All rubber tranny covers w/ metal? What rubber cover? Why change it to metal?

- There is a rubber cover on the belhousing, covering an inspection hole. You can take the rubber insert off, to look at the slave for leaks, and look in the bellhousing while it's mounted. There is absolutely no reason to change that to metal. Is that what he was talking about, or something else?

As stated, the slave is done. The crossmember (PITA), rear driveshaft, transer case, transmission, all have to come off. The shifter will need to come off if it's a ZF, not so on the M5. When the trans is off, the input shaft should be checked for nicks and damage to the surface. It needs to be smooth as it rides in a bearing. If it's not smooth, the pilot bearing will wear out prematurely, and everything would have to come off again to replace 1 bearing and 1 input shaft.

You should replace the clutch, pressure plate, replace or resurface the flywheel, throwout bearing, pilot bearing (in back of motor), the master cylinder, all should be changed to do the job properly. It sounds like you havn't worked with the clutch before because, I'd think you'd of replaced the slave cylinder at that time. All of these parts should be taken care of while the transmission is off. It costs a lot in labor to do this job, so it's best to buy all these parts now vs having to do the job over again later on.

Also, the clutch hydraulic line should be inspected. A lot of people don't ever change that hydraulic fluid. It gets pretty nasty and clogs up the hydraulic line. It will cause a reduction in fluid flow, which will make the pedal harder to push down, and eventually problems with clutch activation. It'll bring the "clutch bite" closer to the floor, meaning, as you let the clutch out it'll grab sooner. It should be flushed out clean or replaced. Also, sometimes the hydraulic line is not reuseable. My hydraulic line wasn't, impossible to get the connector off the old slave and salvage the part. It was heavily clogged too.


That should be all that is necessary to complete the task 100% properly. This isn't a cheap job...

Slave-$70
cyl - $40-$60
hydraulic line - $40 (Ford)
Bearings - $30
clutch - $50
Pressure Plate - $150
Flywheel - $40-$60
Labor - 5-10 hrs

Lookin' at a bill in the neighborhood of $900 or less depending on what ya do.

 

So the answer is " remove the tranny ". What the tranny guy had mentioned to me is there are rubber covers on top, that end up leaking water into the transmision. I didn't think he ment the lower cover by the slave cyl. and yes if I was going that deep, clutch, rear main,slave cyc w/line etc... would all be gutted. Not to mention reworking the four wheel drive shifter. frozen solid, I got high working. I oil it every 4 months or so.I could bend the pin to bypass the safety. But this truck is a pure work horse, I rarely need 4 low, the standard shift makes up for that....

 

There are 2-3 bolts that hold the shifter linkage on as well as popping the linkage levers off. Take the shifter off and lube it up. If you're ever in a pickle, you can pop the last link off and turn that little lever on the transfer case by hand to get 4L.

There are two holes at the top of the bellhousing, but those are suppose to be there. They have a purpose, both transmissions are well designed and built...no problems in their design to have to "fix".

 

Hi there.

Having the same problem with our '90 F250 5.0L.

How hard is replacing the slave cylinder & clutch? I have some mechanical knowledge and have installed clutches, brakes, etc, before. Looking to save some cash right now. Of course, truck breaks down at the worst time.

Thanks.

 

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Royal PITA for me so far. Have had to buy so many tools that it has almost cost as much as it would have to take it to the shop. GL

 

I'll get back to you on those covers. I haven't seen this tranny on the floor before. But I can see you need more accurate info, which I do not have. This guy knows his stuff so I will get back to you....